Cold Steel Voyager XL Vaquero Plain Edge Knife

I"ve had my eye on this knife for about a year and a half and when it went on sale for 40 dollars and change, I finally pulled the trigger.First of all, this knife is BIG. It carries easily and comfortably, and I could probably EDC it, but it's so large I'm pretty sure I'd look like a lunatic if I whipped it out to cut the tape on a shipping box or open my little baggie of drink mix. It's pretty much a pocket machete to carry for self-defense, and in that capacity, it shines.The knife is terrifically well-built and engineered. The Tri-ad lock is very positive and free from play. Texturing on the grip is very positive and aggressive. The only minor downside is that you might have to remove the pocket clip and bend it outward so it doesn't cling to the pocket so tightly. It was adequately sharp out of the box, but I re-profile and power strop every knife I own to razor sharpness so out of the box sharpness is kind of irrelevant to me. The Vaquero recurve blade is unique in the market and handles and cuts quite well. (I also own the 3")If you want the biggest knife that will fit in a folding knife format, at a great price point, this is the one you want. If you wish to EDC it and your peers won't view you as a nut for carrying such a big folder, it will carry very comfortably. It's flatter and lighter than the Spartan and the flat grind sharpens really nicely. The 4" might be a better all-around compromise between defensive use and EDC, but the XL is a great knife for the price.

This is a wicked looking knife with its 5-1/2 inch S-curved, clip-point style blade. The down-swept "belly" of the Vaquero's blade just naturally slices deeper on the back-draw than other blade designs do, without requiring additional effort by the user (assuming the blade is sharp); this makes the Vaquero especially well suited to a variety of cutting and slicing tasks.The Vaquero is part of Cold Steel's Voyager series of knives, which represent an outstanding value to the consumer. Available with Medium (3"), Large (4"), and X-Large (5-1/2") blades, in six different blade styles (including serrations), there's a Voyager folding knife for every need. The Vaquero model in particular, is regarded by some to be about the best everyday folding knife you can buy.In the early days, many knife and steel snobs looked down their noses, or were at best ambivalent about the Voyagers and Cold Steel Knives in general; but not so much any more! The Voyager series are a well proven platform, as are most Cold Steel Knives, and for the money you just can't beat 'em! A friend of mine once told me, "In Texas we have a saying: If you can DO IT, it ain't bragging!" With that, I invite anybody to visit You Tube and watch Cold Steel and other independent reviewers put these knives through their paces! The torture-test comparison of a Cold Steel Voyager XL Vs. a Spyderco Tatanka is a real eye opener!Keep in mind that the MSRP on the Tatanka is $319.95, while the MSRP on the Voyager Vaquero is $94.99; and right now you can get the latter delivered to your home for about forty bucks! Sure, the Tatanka uses VG-10 Steel in its blade, and the Voyager uses AUS 8A; and yes, VG-10 is a higher grade of steel. Still, most of those Cold Steel You Tube videos that'll have your jaw dropping, were performed with the AUS 8A Steel blades. We're talking bang-for-the-buck here... My purpose is not to disparage the Spyderco Knife (I own several Spyderco Knives and love them), but to illustrate what an excellent value the Cold Steel Voyagers really are!On its own merits, AUS 8A (a Japanese Stainless Steel) is acknowledged to be up to the tasks of most everyday users, offering a combination of resilience, edge retention, and corrosion resistance, desirable in a workday knife. And it's among the easier steels to re-sharpen. Yes, Cold Steel is switching to a new blade steel for most of its 2015 Model Knives, and whether or not that's going to translate to a real-world benefit for most users remains to be seen... What I know for sure, is that the switch to the new steel has resulted in outstanding bargain pricing on brand new Cold Steel Knives while they last! And the new model knives are going to be significantly more expensive.The term "Vaquero" roughly translates to "Cowboy", and I think that's apt. The Voyager and Vaquero Series are workhorse knives, designed to withstand absurd abuse, but won't cause a heart attack if they're lost, broken, or confiscated by a well meaning police officer. Note: One advantage to obtaining your CCW permit is that you can legally carry your Voyager--or any other Cold Steel--XL without worry. These days, you can't blame an officer for erring on the side of caution, and your CCW permit confirms your right to possess the knife you carry, provided you're not violating any other prohibitions or ordinances. Keep in mind that the responsibility of knowing your local laws and ordinances falls entirely upon you! Do your homework!My own Voyager XL Vaquero arrived shaving sharp, and in ostensibly flawless condition. I already had the serrated version, and wanted this one too. There is no blade play whatsoever in the opened blade, and the closed blade rests dead-center between the liners. There are no tooling or manufacturing scratches anyplace that I can see on the sample I received--which is something I can't say for some of the new SOG and Benchmade knives I have received and returned! The Taiwanese do a hell of a nice job on these knives!For more info, read the other reviews here, and definitely visit You Tube, for seeing is believing!RB

Very cool knife that has no purpose in daily life whatsoever. Very large. Glad I bought it for my collection. My only complaint is the ad says it's paneled steel. I did a lot of research before buying and knew it was really mono AUS-8. Not my favorite steel but its OK for the discounted price. Nice knife and I'm glad I bought it. Added 6 large Veff serrations to it. It now cuts through leather like it was plastic wrap.

This knife is scary.So scary, i returned mine.The main issue in my case, is my hands aren't big enough to safely open the knife. If you go on YouTube, and watch the reviews, you will hear the same thing from others as well. The mechanism that keeps the knife in the closed position is very strong, which is a good thing. That said, if you fail at an attempt to open the knife, it can swing back and guillotine your fingertips. The bias towards closed and sharpness out of the box make for a fatal condition. If not fatal, then catastrophic to your fingertips, and if you have kids, and they got their hands on the knife, oh man. I don't want to even think about it.Now i have about 30 folding knives, Kershaw, Colt, Gerber, Microtech, Leatherman, and handful of Chinese knives, sanrenmu, enlan, even some novelty knives, and none of them made me afraid to handle them.This one did.If i could safely open the knife and close the knife, i would have kept this knife. I love the blade shape, and for the money, it is quality. No question, triad lock is among the best in the businesses. For self defense, this knife is hard to beat, but for edc, this would definitely scare the sheeple, so how could you realistically use the knife in everyday situations. Just drawing the blade would draw unwanted attention.I don't know, for me, i had to pass, maybe if it had a strong assisted open i would consider it, but as is, its not for me. The thought of losing my fingertips just isn't appealing.Don't say i didn't warn you.Now as an aside, i will also mention you should note, i gave the knife five stars, because frankly that's what it deserves. It really is a bargain for the money, no question. And while it scares the daylights out of me, maybe that is also part of its allure and popularity. Pick one up if you think you can handle it.Just be careful.

Es ist groß - sehr groß.Verarbeitung ist top und der Anschliff super. Das einzige Problem ist die Größe, auf Grund derer und des sehr strapazierfähigen TriAd Locks würde ich es maximal als klappbares Camping oder Trackingmesser einstufen, da es trotz seiner Größe recht leicht ist und sich somit gut im für vorher genannte Tätigkeiten benötigten Gepäck unterbringen lässt.

Vorneweg: Das abgebildete Messer ist nicht die 5 1/2 " Version des Voyager Vaquero.5 1/2" entspricht dem XL-Modell (Gesamtlänge: ca. 31,1 cm ) - was man dann auch tatsächlich erhält. Welche Version hier eigentlich genau abgebildet ist, ist mir schleierhaft, denn das Bild zeigt halbwegs die Griffkonstruktion des XL-Vaquero - allerdings ist hier eine Schraube anstatt des Back-Lock Stiftes verbaut, genauso wie die Clip-Aufnahme wie bei der Large Version unterhalb der Lanyard-Öse in den Griff eingelassen ist- auch die Länge auf dem Bild kommt der XL-Version nicht gänzlich nahe, aber auch der Large-Version nicht... daher auch nochmals der Vergleich der "Original" modelle auf dem Bild...Hier stimmt übrigens auch die Beschreibung unten nicht - es wird ebenfalls die Large-Version beschrieben.Also: Am besten bei ColdSteel,de mal anschauen was man eigentlich kaufen will...Das Problem mit den falschen Abblidungen nebst falschen Beschreibungen gibts hier bei Cold Steel-Messern offenbar des öfteren - was stimmt ist i.d. Regel die Beschreibung im Titel. Auch werden z.T. Messer zum Preis der jeweils größeren (war bei mir der Fall: 55,- für ein XL Vaquero ohne Versandkosten ) oder kleineren Version angeboten - deshalb wenn geht sorgfältig recherchieren bevor man zugreift.Zum Messer ansich, also dem XL Vaquero: Gewohnt gute Cold Steel Qualität bez. Verarbeitung und Schärfe out of box. Unterarm-Rasur war kein Problem - auch gibt es keinerlei Klingenspiel, absolut mittig zentrierte Klinge im geschlossenem Zustand. Der recht (wie immer bei Cold Steel) strenge Back-Lock hält die Klinge absolut sicher verankert, auch Schläge auf den Klingenrücken lassen die Verriegelung kalt.Das Messer ist im Lieferzustand nicht §42a - konform, da es sich über den Daumenpin rel. leicht öffnen lässt - man kann diesen aber abschrauben was das Öffnen mit nur einer Hand sehr erschwert - geht aber trotzdem noch mit etwas Reibung...Der Griff ist groooß- hinten gegriffen ist das Messer dann eher ein Säbel oder eine kleine Machete...Die Griffmulde verhindert ein Abrutschen auf die Klinge effektiv. In den Griff sind Aluminium-Liner unsichtbar integriert, was noch einmal zusätzlich Stabilität bringt. Das Griffmaterial (Grivory) kommt haptisch wie optisch leider nicht an gängiges G10 heran und wirkt m.E. leider etwas billig. Griffigkeit ist aber sehr gut, bzw. beim strengen Clip (rechts u. links tip up) etwas zu gut - eher weniger hosentaschenfreundliche Kombination - wobei das Teil für gängige Hosentaschen fast schon etwas arg groß ist...Gewichtsmäßig (204 g )ist das XL Vaquero immer noch verhältnismäßig leicht, dennoch natürlich kein Leichtgewicht.Der gängige AUS 8 Stahl ist mit etwa 60HRC schnitthaltig aber nicht gänzlich rostfrei, nimmt aber eine hervorragende Schärfe an und war auch out of box extrem gut geschliffen. Die Klinge ist mit der ungewöhnlöichen Schneidenform entsprechen schwer nachzuschärfen und weist ein ansprechendes Stonewash-Finish auf, was Kratzer weniger auffällig macht.Fazit: Gewohnt gutes Cold Steel, nur die etwas billige Griff-Optik stört m.E. etwas - ist aber nat.Geschmackssache. Was man bedenken sollte ist die extreme Größe (31cm!) und das schwierige Nachschärfen.

Der Vaquero ist das größte Klappmesser meiner Sammlung. Auf Grund der Größe ist er bei mir ein reines Vitrinenmesser, das sofort ins "Auge sticht". Auf Grund seiner Klingenlänge mit 14 cm darf es auch nicht geführt, also in der Öffentlichkeit getragen werden. Aus meiner Sicht trotzdem 5 Sterne, wenn man Messersammler ist.